Money with menaces

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I notice that referees are now going to receive £70k pa as a "step towards" becoming professional. Nice work if you can get it. Can't imagine what they think a reasonable wage is if you get that sort of folding for holding up a numbers board and looking at people's feet.

Disquieting how they argue that they will somehow become better at their job if they are paid more than they currently receive. A bit like the Post Office charging you extra not to lose your letters...

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

Answers

Hopefully they will be more accountable. If they are getting that much as a salary they should be prepared to make public their views on the game etc etc.

Hopefully it's a double edge sword.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001


Aye, but will we see any of them fall on it when they get it wrong? I doubt it.

It's right that the game should have professional referees, but £70k a year is outragous. Over £1200 an hour requires a hell of a return in terms of dedication and their in-game decisions. Does this also mean the FA will start to head hunt the best international refs? Will they be full time? Or will twats like Ellary continue to draw a nice salary from Harrow School as well as the £70k? More questions than answers, eh :-)

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001


I suppose it will encourage people to become jumped up little Hitlers referees and make it harder for the really shite to keep their place in the officials pool.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

It's an incredibly high-pressure job that requires fitness and visual acuity, considerable man-management skills, technical knowledge and a good deal of courage. Do the job well and you're invisible, do it badly and you take a battering that most people wouldn't have the stomach for. Reduce it to £/hr and it's quite a wedge. But what's a fair amount? In total it's only equivalent to a month's salary of an average Prem player.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

You're right, dan, it is a difficult job - which is why I hope the new brand of professional ref is not going to be the largely based on the lard-arsed gets we see week in and out. I also don't think a direct comparison to average PL wages is fair, 'cos refs divn't kick the ball, and their level of fitness is only similar not the same (i.e. they don't (often) get barged and their legs taken from under them and still expected to run). Finally, as technology will continue to encroach on the game's refereeing, will the boffins in front of the tellys get £70k.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001


This is a good thing. In theory it will make refs FULL TIME so they can concentrate on the game and provide consistency across matches. Accountability comes into it as well, of course.

Bobby, a bit hard on Mr. Ellery who will NOT be taking the new salary. He will remain a) one of our best refs(sad but true) and b) employed by Harrow

There is still the problem of there being no fast-track to premiership ref status. You have to do your time in lower leagues for MANY years before even dreaming about election to the Prem. What's my career path to the prem? there isn't one so this is a first step that will reward the BEST of the guys who have devoted more of their life to football than the majority of us (buff specifically excluded)

70K too much? Whatever profession you are in I bet you'd be pi**ed off if you were one of the top 30 in the country and ONLY earned 70K.

Full-time refs = more consistency

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001


if you think its money for old rope why don't you sign up, do the training courses and become a ref?

who cares how much they get paid as long as they do a good job.

personally i can't understand why they've done it for so long for pocket money - abuse, personal ridicule on international tv - no thx

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001


Positive move in my book - long overdue.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

I can't see that this will make much difference to the standard of refereeing - the job is impossible anyway, no matter how much you pay. (cf £40000 a week footballers who can still miss penalties)

I don't begrudge them the money at all - I don't think I'd sign up as a ref if they were paying twice as much. It will be a 2 edged sword. Every mistake - or perceived mistake - will be greeted by "That barstewards getting £70k a year for that - robbery!"

The job is impossible. Sometimes you see the slo-mo replay 6 times from several different angles and the experts in the studio are still undecided about the decision - so how can 1 man from 1 viewpoint, having seen it once at high speed, get it right? I think we are lucky that anybody is mad enough to take the job on.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

Consistency is the main problem, not so much the adequacy/accuracy of decision-making.
They need to spend more time together reviewing match videos, debating their decisions, and strive for greater consistency of approach.
If the money attracts people to the 'profession' who are prepared to work hard at it, achieve a high level of fitness, then in the long-term I feel sure it will prove to be a positive move.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001


Keep your panties on George. The criticism is that they consider 70k to be "step towards" becoming professional. I'm thinking teachers, nurses, police officers, armed forces who put in a tad more than 30 days work a year and don't come within sniffing distance of the money these jokers reckon to be a step in the right direction. World turned upside down.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

So does this mean that they can now be criticised for their efforts?

Does it mean that they will have to own up to their mistakes?

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001


Softie - I'm sure that on the day 50,000 people pay £25 each to watch a bloke having his appendix out, nurses will be able to demand pay parity with referees.
Clarky - re: consistency. A caller on 606 a while back made an excellent point. People demand consistency from refs, but also demand 'common sense'. The two are mutually exclusive.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001

dan, I pay something like 6% of my annual salary so that people can have their appendix cut out. This is simply another obscenity in the finances of professional football. We can all agree that NUFC played better football in 1993-94, yet the players are paid 3 times as much now. I really don't think that referees will get any better for being paid such high salaries. A warehouseman has to keep physically fit, work all year and remember considerably more regulations in the pursuit of his job.

Wolfie Smith

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001


Ok, hows about performance related pay? Or win bonuses for those reffing Man U games?

Also, dan - with the wonderful world of digital telly I'm sure pay- per-view operations won't be far away. In fact that's not a bad idea! Small kid with tragic illness can't afford life saving operation. TV company (say, SKY for no obvious reason) offer to pay for op if they get exclusive broadcasting rights. Human interest, sciences, medical drama, Rolf Harris...it's a winner!

Hello? Mr Murdoch? Have I got a an idea for you! :-)

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001



It's a huge salary for a part time job, but if it encourages a few EX football players in, I think it would be a good move. The likes of Steve Harper is a ref, players like him no the tricks of the trade, they would make good refs and at £70k they might go down that road when they hang up their boots.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001

Softie - I'm not saying it's right, just that with the money sloshing around in the game, professionals involved in it are going to demand commensurate income. All right, on that basis Premiership groundsman should be on fortunes compared to parkies...actually, they probably are...hm....sorry, what was I saying?

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001

£70k would save Blyth Spartans from extinction,

Funny ol game innit?

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001


But how many Spartans would know how to act in from of 30,000+ ? :-)

Best not to go down the road of "what can you get for £70k" 'cos it's a miserable journey...

But I'll start...half a semi-detached house in Hillingdon

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001


dan,

The "consistent" application of "common sense" would be a huge step forward, imho.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001


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